Letters to the Editor - 9/25/2013

Editor: As a former prosecutor, U.S. Rep. Thomas Marino knows that facts count. One that should be perfectly clear to him is that the financial crisis his party created made poor Americans poorer.

The number of families now "food insecure" has dramatically increased. The subsequent increase in food stamp use is proof that his party's punishing economic policies are destructive. Rather than support the jobs bill, he voted to cut food stamps.

Second, food stamp users are mostly women with children, their children, the elderly, the disabled, and members of the armed forces. His vote to cut food stamps hurts the most vulnerable.

A third fact is that wealthy agribusinesses are the real abusers of the system. Though they do not need them, the wealthy get massive subsidies. The family farmers in his district who raise livestock or produce healthy foods get little help. The Republican-controlled House Agriculture Committee, which pushed the cuts, rejected even token reductions for the wealthy.

Another fact: During the recession, the rich got richer while the 47 percent made famous by his party's presidential candidate make far less than before the recession.

He's not quite a 1 percenter, but, in part because of his $174,000 congressional salary, he's doing OK. Plus, he and his family get great health insurance paid for by taxpayers.

Mr. Marino's oddly shaped district plunges south, but not across the Mason-Dixon line. Even so, he routinely votes with his southern colleagues and against his own constituents. He supported sequestration, which impacted early childhood education, Meals on Wheels, and even the defense industry. He voted against the Violence Against Women Act. Dozens of times he voted to squash the Affordable Care Act, which will benefit millions of Americans.

He is now ready to plunge the country into a financial disaster.

JOSEPH ROGAN

EYNON

Who to deny?

Editor: It is unlikely that U.S. Reps. Lou Barletta and Tom Marino will ever need food stamps, or have to seek affordable health care, or need to make draconian choices between paying for food or medicine, rent or heating oil. Yet, they voted last week to defund health care for millions of Americans who could not afford it, and to deny food stamps for several million who depend on them. Simultaneously, they voted for large farm subsidies and decided to play "Russian roulette" with the U.S. economy if their demands were not met.

Like many members of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives they claimed to be concerned for ordinary taxpayers. They are determined to end "waste, fraud and abuse" (again!) and are following the will of those voters who sent them to Congress.

Perhaps they are correct. Perhaps voters in their districts do want these outcomes.

I invite these voters to write and tell us who exactly should be denied food stamps (and please spare us the red herring of "lottery winners.")

Please tell us exactly who should be denied the health insurance that they received a few short months ago under Obamacare. Defunding it means that those already covered will lose that coverage. Please tell us who wants to lie around not working so that their children go hungry and cannot stay warm this winter. Perhaps they are resting on the "hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency," as Rep. Paul Ryan says.

Remember: One out of three children in Scranton lives below the poverty line.

And, if you can't tell us who, perhaps we should all work to find Mr. Barletta and Mr. Marino new jobs, and get them off the public dole.

OLIVER J. MORGAN

CLARKS SUMMIT

Hurting the least

Editor: Let's hand it to the Republicans, again. Now they are going after the poor, the elderly, children and veterans by voting to cut more than $40 million from SNAP.

They are showing their meanness, bullying the down-and-out.

They are playing politics with the poor. I like when they stand there and tell everyone they lead a Christian life. Who cannot see through them for what they really are? These Republicans do not act like Christians. Far from it. They are the biggest phonies. What would Jesus do?

KEVIN MAGNER

CLARKS SUMMIT

Sickening sight

Editor: The front-page photo that featured two young women made up to look like zombies, appearing Sept. 21, was in poor taste.

The Times-Tribune considers itself a family newspaper, but when photos like this appear, I have to hide the paper from my young children. This is not the first time this has happened, and frankly, it turned even my stomach.

Further, this photo and its caption are not news. The caption provided an announcement about an upcoming event. Listing the event in the Lifestyles section would be sufficient, as those who are interested in attending such events could locate the information there.

Underprivileged students from many other countries are doing better than our overly privileged students. If his comments are true, then how do we explain the fact that even Canadian students are blowing our socks off? Is it the cold Canadian air? Or is America doing something wrong when it comes to education?

It's time to wake up and take a good hard look at American education. Complaining that a test is just too hard for our kids, as we just watch the rest of the world pass us by, is the wrong approach.

We need to understand why the rest of the industrialized world doesn't find these tests to be quite so hard. Doesn't Mr. Schubert understand that our children will have to compete for jobs with the kids from the rest of the world?

ED COLE

CLARKS SUMMIT

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